Many people believe that BC Hydro’s current job #1 is enabling the delivery of water and cheap power to northeast gas fields and heavily subsidized energy to remote mine sites. If true, that proves government policy is being dictated by the favoured natural resource industry – an industry that presently employs only a tiny proportion of the province’s workforce.
In the current fiscal year, natural gas royalties, net of the drilling and infrastructure credits allowed producers, will be negative. Sales of rights, including fees, rents and bonuses amounted to $16.2 million, a tiny fraction of any year since monthly sales began.
Shall we recall Premier Clark’s 2013 election promise of a debt-free province with a $100 billion Prosperity Fund and sufficient revenues to fund increased spending on education and social programs?
How’s that promise coming along?
Categories: Natural Gas, Natural Resources, Taxation
IN-SIGHTS 
It would be fun to see BC's annual proceeds from such things as property transfer tax, provincial park camping fees or fishing licences, to compare against the revenue generated from mining, oil and gas.
For example, Australia collected $9 billion in tobacco taxes in 2015. $9 billion for smokes and snuff. I've got to think their LNG industry would be hard-pressed to match that.
LikeLike
There will be no prosperity fund, simply put, its a fantasy..period. Even putting $100 million of other money's up and calling it a “start” towards such a fund is farce at best. The mismanagement of the provincial economy under the B.C. Liberals, is a con game of smoke and mirrors, followed by the sparkle pony Queens, “promises” and mistruths. B.C. Hydro is a quagmire of misrepresented fiscal data, and Liberal interference. Someone is pulling the strings here, and that's the answer to this whole mess. Follow the money trail or trails, I'm sure a properly funded and independent corruption enquiry, legal team, will have a field day investigating, the political interference in a so called “provincial crown corporation.” Arms length transactions? Don't kid yourself. As has been stated before “any” CEO found to be manipulating data regarding corporate performance and fiscal management, would have been fired long ago. This is corrupt mismanagement by B.C.Hydro under the instruction of a political party, run by a criminal entity, “posing” as a democratic government.
Its organized crime, plain and simple. Get W5 on the phone, there is a critical news story here. We need a corruption enquiry, now, and not run by the RCMP, call in an outside independent investigative body. Mr Horgan, and maybe Mr.Trudeau, should now be seriously looking at this option. This is becoming more serious by the day.
LikeLike
Absolutely! And there should be money to fund this… somewhere. The 'Prosperity Fund'? There appears to more than enough reasons to instigate this. How did Quebec get started on their investigation?
LikeLike